Belinda Wright (18 January 1929 – 1 April 2007) was an English ballerina noted for romantic and classical roles.

Life and career

She was born Brenda Wright in

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

, Lancashire (later

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wi ...

). She was the daughter of a

coal merchant Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

, and as a sickly child was advised to take dance classes for her health. She studied under Dorothea Halliwell,

Olga Preobrajenska Olga Iosifovna Preobrajenska (russian: О́льга Ио́сифовна Преображе́нская; born Preobrazhenskaya; – 27 December 1962) was a Russian ballerina of the Russian Imperial Ballet and a ballet instructor. Biogra ...

in Paris and Kathleen Crofton in London, and won awards for young dancers including the

Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlovna Pavlova ( , rus, Анна Павловна Павлова ), born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova ( rus, Анна Матвеевна Павлова; – 23 January 1931), was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20t ...

Cup and the Dancing Times Cup. Wright began working with Ballet Rambert in 1946. After further studies, she joined the

London Festival Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottis ...

, where she danced as prima ballerina and became best known for her work in ballets including '' Harlequinade'' and '' Giselle''. She also danced for

Roland Petit Roland Petit (13 January 192410 July 2011) was a French ballet company director, choreographer and dancer. He trained at the Paris Opera Ballet school, and became well known for his creative ballets. Life and work The son of shoe designer Ros ...

's Ballet de Paris, Le Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas, and the

Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

. Her farewell performance took place in 1977 in Tokyo, and afterward she worked as a dance teacher. Wright had two children. She was married to Swiss dancer Wolfgang Brunner but divorced in 1960. She married her dance partner

Jelko Yuresha Jelko Yuresha (9 May 1937 – 8 July 2020) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He and his wife, ballerina Belinda Wright, toured internationally as “Ambassadors of Dance” for the United Kingdom from 1966 to 1977. In 1959 he p ...

in 1961, and resided in Zurich, Switzerland, and New York. She died of coronary complications in Zurich at the age of 78.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Belinda 1929 births 2007 deaths People from Southport Prima ballerinas English ballerinas Dancers of The Royal Ballet